DFID joins World Bank to cut road deaths

16 March 2010

DFID has joined the World Bank’s initiative to combat an escalating crisis of road deaths and injuries in developing countries.

International Development Minister Gareth Thomas met with the World Bank’s Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) yesterday to discuss a new global programme to save millions of lives in developing countries, taken forward from 2011-2020 as part of the UN Decade of Action for road safety.

Gareth Thomas said that the UK will be at the forefront of efforts to improve road safety in developing countries over the next decade. In total, 1.3 million people are killed on the world’s roads each year, and nine out of ten fatalities are in low and middle income countries. Road traffic fatalities are the single biggest source of death among 15-19 year olds in developing countries and the second leading cause among 5-14 year olds.

He said:  

“It is unacceptable that people in developing countries are more likely to die from simply crossing a road or driving a car than they are from malaria. 

"Our support for the Global Road Safety Facility will enable us to work more effectively with other leaders on this issue and do more to prevent the 1.3 million deaths that are caused by road accidents each year.

"The Decade of Action for Road Safety, which will be launched next year, aims to reduce the amount of predicted road accident casualties by 50 percent by 2020. It is only by working together and taking strong action on this issue that we will reverse the appalling rate of accidents that currently take place."

The World Bank’s Facility has received £1.5m from DFID to run projects aiming to save lives by undertaking road assessments for infrastructure safety, increasing seatbelt use, adding traffic calming measures and training drivers.